If you've ever wondered how to measure social media, public relations, public affairs, media relations, internal communications or blogs you're in the right spot. In this space I'll be regularly ranting and raving about measurement standards, research news, techniques and the latest developments in the world of PR research and evaluation. When I'm not here, you can find me in my garden in Durham New Hampshire or in my sailboat out on the Oyster River.

How to introduce me

For those who bear the burden of introducing me at a conference...

Katie Delahaye Paine (twitter: KDPaine) is the CEO and founder of KDPaine & Partners LLC and author of, Measuring Public Relationships, the data-driven communicators guide to measuring success. She also writes the first blog and the first newsletters dedicated entirely to measurement and accountability. In the last two decades, she and her firm have listened to millions of conversations, analyzed thousands of articles, and asked hundreds of question in order to help her clients better understand their relationships with their constituencies.
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October 2010

October 25, 2010

Yes, that's the name of my new book. (In stores March 2011) But it is also a philosophy that we at KDPaine & Partners have espoused for a long time. Too many clients come to us thinking that they need to capture EVERY SINGLE MENTION of their brand that happens anywhere. In reality, in today's media environment, it just isn't possible. Even Google only reportedly captures 80% of what is out there. So using the best of the spiders you're probably missing at least 20% or more of what is out there just because it hasn't been indexed. Then assume you'll miss another 10% because people are talking about you but are spelling your name wrong, or using an abbreviation that you're not looking for, and you get the idea.

The point is not to cry over missed clips, but to focus attention on what really matters: The conversation that will influence your bottom line. And, while we've been doing this forever for traditional media – primarily based on what outlets have the best reach into your target audience, what matters to your business today may be changing as we speak. What matters most may not be the media, but in fact, may be the need to attract and hire a new type of computer skill, or might be that you need to be seen as more necessary to your local legislature. And yes, while traditional media isn't going anywhere soon, it may be that the biggest influencer on your audience might be a daddy blogger with 1000 readers.

My point, and the point of my book is, that PR and communications folks need to broaden their definition of what matters, to look beyond the next clip, or the newest conversation, and learn about the business and how it makes money. As I said in my PRSA presentation: the "bottom line" isn't just about sales, it's about profit.

The calculation of space or time used for earned media (publicity or news content) by comparing it to the cost of that same space or time if purchased as advertising.

3. Reasons why we reject the practice of AVE

The term, Advertising Value Equivalency, erroneously suggests that the space and time occupied by earned media generated through public relations is equivalent to the same space and time of paid media when purchased as advertising. There is no evidence to suggest that advertising and editorial space hold equivalent value. Advertising is purchased and affords complete control to the advertiser for content, placement and frequency and is almost always positive. In contrast, publicity, or earned media, is only semi-controllable after ceding the final output to the medium that may result in positive, neutral or negative messages. While earned and paid media deliver messages, the editorial imprimatur represented through earned media is a key differentiator. The two are not equivalent concepts and should not be treated as such.

Additionally, AVE is not a proxy for measuring the return-on-investment of public relations. AVE subjugates the value of the messages delivered through public relations simply to the cost of the space and/or time occupied by advertising, not the impact or effectiveness of public relations in its broadest definition. Even more problematic is the use of AVE to represent a public relations outcome, and a meaningful measure to represent a financial return on investment. This obfuscating practice often prevents or misdirects focus from quantifying the more meaningful outcomes of public relations. The Commission recognizes that the use of AVE is a common practice because calculating AVE is inexpensive and accessible but this does not justify the practice as appropriate. 4. Measuring the Value of Public Relations

First and foremost, the commission encourages measurement and evaluation practices that demonstrate the degree to which public relations efforts contribute to organizational goals. Ultimately, outcome-based measures—such as awareness, understanding, attitudes and behaviors—provide a better way to demonstrate public relations’ unique impact. While some of these outcomes might be transaction-oriented (sales, membership, donations, enrollment, etc.), there are other important results of effective public relations. Examples of viable and quantifiable public relations outcomes include improved relationships, increased trust, higher levels of satisfaction and loyalty, enhanced reputation and meeting expectations for social responsibilities.

5. Measuring Public Relations Messages

The Commission recognizes that achieving outcomes requires communicating effectively with key audiences. Therefore, it is necessary to measure the quantity and quality of public relations output in order to demonstrate a contribution to outcomes. Whenever possible, it is best to isolate the message generated by public relations and control for other variables in order to more accurately measure the likelihood of direct impact on the target audience. Measuring media coverage is a valuable way of evaluating media-focused public relations and the delivery of intended and unintended messages. However, AVE does not evaluate the quality of media messages and their probable impact on outcomes. Any measure of media coverage should also include variables such as tone, prominence, placement, appearance of key messages, the portion of story that applies to the organization or its key messages, and the credibility and targeted reach of the medium in which the message appears. It is also better to compare data to previous performance, expected outcomes, or competitors. Without these comparative contexts, the numbers are not as meaningful. These best practices for measuring quality of media output are not intended to supersede the importance of measuring outcomes, nor do we suggest that the primary purpose of public relations is to generate media coverage. Rather, these recommended practices propose to improve the way that media coverage is measured and evaluated when it is an essential part of the process.

For those of you steeped in outcome measurement, marketing mix modeling, social media measurement or other more advanced forms of measuring PR, you may be scratching your head as to why I think this is such a big deal.

But here's the reality. For thousands of PR practitioners world wide, counting clips is measurement and AVE is considered an improvement. Many of us on IIPR Measurement Commission have been railing against AVEs for more than a decade, and we've felt like most of our words are falling on deaf ears.

With last summer's Barcelona Principles, PRSA's Business Case for PR and now this definitive statement from the IPR Measurement Commission, we now have build a consensus that makes it very hard for a PR professional to argue that AVE is a valid model. I'm hoping that these agreements will provide the ammunitiion that our clients need to take to their bosses and say: see, this really isn't valid, we need to measure the actual business impact of what we do. Well, I can dream can't I?

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Measure What Matters

Katie Delahaye Paine's great little book Measure What Matters shows organizations of all sizes how to evaluate and improve their public relations and social media efforts. OrderMeasure What Matters now.